Loading apparatus.



F. L. STUART.

LOADING A'PPARATUS. APPLcAnoN FILED APR. 7, 1916.

atented July 25, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l Patented' July 25, T916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Y cwZJLe/yazf F L STUART LOADING APPARATUS.

-APPLlcATlN man APR. 7. 1916.

- the frame is pivotally l 'FRANCIS LEE STUART, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

LOADING APPARATUS.

Specicaton of Letters Iatent.

Patenten July es, i916.

original application led October 13,'1915, Serial No. 55,620. Divided and this application filed April 7,

To all whom 'it may concern.' j

Be it known that I, FnANois Lun STUART,

Baltimore, Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Loading Apparatus, of which the following is a` specification.

` In my application for-Letters Patent of the United States No. 55,620, led October 13, 1915, I have shown some improvements' in loading and storing apparatus in which means is provided for transferring material being handled from cars or other carriers to conveyers which deliver it to storage bins or piles or to receiving carriers, such as ships, barges,. or other vessels or cai'riers. Such apparatus, generally stated, comprises means for transferring the material from loaded cars toconveyer belts, some of which carry the material to bins and others to what are called loading towers which aremovable to any desired' position and each of which is equipped with a conveyer' which receives material entering the tower and delivers it to a chute, lowerator or other downwardlymoving conveyer which deposits the material in a vessel or elsewhere if desired.

The application forthis patent is a division of said application of October 13,' 1915 and theclaims herein are confined to the novel features of the towers above referred to.

Each of the loading towers is equipped with a vertically adjustable cage carrying aA horizontally adjustable shuttle provided with'a conveyeigwhich receives the material entering the tower and delivers it to a chute, lowerator or other downwardly moving cohveyer which deposits the material in a vessel or elsewhere if desired. The chute or loweratorv is swungk from a boom on which it is vertically adjustable and which is itself movable upwardly, to accommodate difi'erent conditions.

The main conveyer belt has an inclined looped portion extending upward from the level of the main portion of the, belt and this loop is supported by a frame connecte at its lower end to a truck with which it has a pivotal connection, while the upper end of connected with the cage and delivers to a'receiving hopper car; ried thereby.V The va'rrangzgement is such tha as the cage is raised and lowered to diii'erent horizontal planes the loop-supporting frame outwardly and inwardly y pulley b4.

Serial No. 89,595.

is -correspondingly moved in such way that 'j the upper delivery end oftheloop always a citizen of the United States, residing in' maintains the samein proper relation to the qreceiving-hopper while .the belt with Vits looped portion is maintained .in 'proper operative condition. l

My improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which, Figure 1 shows an end elevation of a loadmg tower and illustrates the manner in which the vertically adjustable shuttle cage supports the horizontally adjustable shuttle equipped with a belt conveyer which de livers to a lowerator carried by an adjustable boom. Fig. lx1 is a detail view illustrating conventionally mechanism which ,may -be employed for raising and lowering thefcage.. Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating particularly the relation of the tower and its shuttle cage to the main conveyer belt. Fig. 3 is afdetail view showing the lower portion of the ioop'- supporting frame and the truck to which it is pivotally connected. Fig. 3A is a' detail view showing a modified way of connecting the lower portion of the loop-supporting frame to the truck. Fig. 4 isla detail view of the upper portion of the loop-supporting frame showing how it is pivotally connected with the shuttle cage. Fig. 5 is a view Ion enlarged scale and in section of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 shows diagrammatically and in perspective the relation of the tower and its shuttle cage with the conveyer belt.

The relative arrangement of one of the main conveyer belts B with the loading tower A is -well shown in Fig. 2. The tower comprises a frame mounted on wheels a ar.- ranged to move from place to place on ati-ack C. The conveyer B comprises an endless belt traversing pulleys I), bf" at opposite ends of the conveyer and supported suitably by idler rollers wherever required. The' belt on the line 5-15 has an upwardly inclined looped portion B v,

supported by idlers b2 and traversing anY upper guide pulley b3 and a lower guide The pulley bearings on the cage D which may be raised dy and lowered in the tower in the manner hereinafter described.'

As shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 the looped portion of the belt isv supported by a truss or frame E, the lower end of which is hinged or pivotally connected at -e to a truck F connected to move with the tower A and hav-l ing an inclined upper portion f interposed b3 is supported in ythe belt.

between the inclined and straight portions of The truck is supported by wheels f adapted to move on. the track C, while the truss or fra-me E is vertically adjustable to different angular positions about the pivot c as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3. The inclined portion f of the truck affords means for holding the belt properly at the part thereof which merges from a straight to an inclined part. instead of pivoting the frame E to the truck l" in the manner shown in F ig. 3. e., by a pivot loated below the frame and on the lower part of the truck I may join the frame'v to the truck in the manner shown in Fig. 3A. ln this case the pivot e is located where the upper portion of the lower end of the frame joins the adjacent upper end of the inclined portion f of the truck and the 'pivot shaft carries a roller e2 on which the belt B bears. ln this way the belt'is supported by the roller to whatever extent the frame E be adjusted and is most efiiciently guided thereby in the proper direction.

As before stated, the upper end of the loop B ltraverses a pulley b3 and thisv pulley, as indicated in Fig. 4, is supported in suitable bearings in brackets b5 mounted on the ca ge D which latter is so supported in the tower that it may be raised and lowered to any de sired horizontal plane. Any suitable mechanism may be employed for this purpose. By way of example, I have shown in Fig. 1a screw-shafts G extending through lugs g projecting laterally from the cage and geared to suitable j oower-driven mechanism H. Within the cage is m'ounted a shuttle which is adjustable horizontally in the cage and is equipped with a conveyor belt J which may be operated yin any suitable way and which delivers to a lowerator K or a chute K', or to any other suitable device for conveying material to a vessel L orother receptacle. The lowerator K is suspended by tackle 7c from a boom M which may be raised and lowered by tackle 7c, and the chute K is similarly suspended from a boom M by tackle 7c and the boom may be raised and lowered by tackle 7c3. Cf course other means may be employed for adjusting the lower-ator, chute and booms. Ibave shown conventionally mea-ns for these purposes. It will he 'understood that a chute, lowerator or other suitable conveyer may be used on either or both booms, or material may be delivered directly from the end of the shuttle to its final destination. rEhe details of the lowerator K are not herein described in detail as they are more fully shown and described in my application for patent above mentioned.

The main conveyer belt is operated in the usual. way and as more fully described my before mentioned application, and the upper end of the looped pci tion thereof delivers to a hopper N carried by the cage D. This hopper preferably connects with chutes m arranged ov r the conveyor belt J.

rlhe tower may be moved from place to place on the track C alongside .of a barge or other vessel, or near any other object to which it is desired to deliver the material being conveyed. This may be done Without disturbing the proper condition of the `conveyer belt which. is reeved with the pulleys 3, b4 in a manner well known to those skilled in this art. The cage D may be raised in any suitable way to any desired elevation within reasonable limits and the shuttle l may be extended horizontally in either direction from the cage so that the shuttle conveyer J may deliver to any desired place on either side of the tower. The upper end of the looped portion of the main conveyer belt is so connected with the cage that it is raised and lowered with the cage without changing its relation to the receiving hopper of the cage, and therefore the tower may be moved back and forth on the track and the cage may be raised and lowered to any desired extent without in any Way disturbying the operative condition of the main convever.

tIt will be observed that the apparatus is vso organized that there is a. minimum amount of breakage as the mater-lai passes gently from the main conveyor to the shuttle conveyer and said shuttle conveyor delivers with a. minimum amount of breakage to the lowerator7 'the discharge end of which may be placed close to the receptacle to which it delivers.

I claim as my invention:

l. Loading apparatus comprising a tower, a shuttle cage adjustable vertically in the tower, an extensible conveyer carried by the cage, a main conveyer belt having a looped portion delivering to the cage conveyer and a frame supporting said looped ortion of the belt having a pivotal connection with the ca ge and which is raised and lowered there-v with. l

2. ,Loading apparatus comprising a/tower mounted to move from place to place, a vertically adjustable cage therein, an extensible conveyor carried by the cage, a hopper in the cage delivering to said Conveyor, an endless conveyer belt having a looped portion delivering to said hopper and a supporting frame for said loop pivotally connected with the cage above the hopper and having a pivotal support at its lower end.

8. Loading apparatus comprising a tower mounted to move from place to place, a horizontally arranged conveyerwithin the tower and vertically adjustable to diiferent horizontal planes, a main conveyer belt having a looped portion delivering` to said conveyer, al frame supporting said loop and which is adjustable vertically to diierent horizontal planes, and a truck to which the lower end of said loop-supporting frame is pivotally connected.

4. Loading apparatus comprising a tower mounted to move from place to place, a horizontally arranged conveyer within the tower and vertically adjustable to different nerizontal planes, a main conveyer belt having a looped portion delivering to said conveyer, a frame supportingv said loo-p and which is adjustable vertically to diii'erent horizontal planes, a truck to the upper part of which the lower end of said loop-supporting frame is pivotally connected, and a roller supporting the belt adjacent said pivotal connection. j

5. Loading apparatus comprising a tower mounted to move from place to place, a main conveyer belt having a looped portion delivering to the upper portion of said tower, a frame for supporting said belt, a truck Copies of this patent ma;7 be obtained for mounted to move from place to place and A having an inclined'upper portion, and a pivotal connection between said truckand the I lower end of the loop-supporting frame.

6. Loading apparatus comprising a tower movable from place to place, a cage vertically adjustable in thel tower, a sliuttle mounted in the cage and adjustable laterally 'o FRANCIS LEE STUART.

Witnesses E. R. SHARKS, r A. H. SCHAEFFER.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,l

Washington, D. C. 

